NC - Emma Waters, 60, murdered, Lenoir, 20 Nov 2005

Son, girlfriend held in slaying of 60-year-old Lenoir woman
LENOIR, N.C.
A Lenoir man and his girlfriend face first-degree murder charges in the slaying of the man's 60-year-old mother.

Mark Waters, 37, and Dale Lynn Hallyburton, 39, were charged shortly after the body of Emma Jean Waters was found Sunday evening. They are being held without bond in the Caldwell County jail.

The son had been living with his mother in her home on a rural road outside Lenoir since his release from prison in early August.

Officials with the Caldwell County sheriff's office declined to discuss how Emma Waters was killed or a possible motive, saying they may make other arrests.

Sheriff Gary Clark said evidence found on and around Emma Waters' body led investigators to Mark Waters and Hallyburton and that investigators believe drugs may have been involved. He said some of Emma Waters' possessions were stolen and traded or sold, possibly for drugs.

Mark Waters and Hallyburton were arrested about an hour after Emma Waters' body was found Sunday evening by police and family members who went to her home after she failed to answer phone calls. They were in Emma Waters' red Ford Ranger truck.

the Honorable Robert C. Ervin sentenced Hallyburton to spend between six and eight years behind bars...

Hallyburtons plea came almost four years after Emma Waters was found dead in her home and eight days after Mark Waters plead guilty to second-degree murder in the same case.

Waters, 41, was sentenced to spend between 17 and 21 years in prison, and given credit for the four years he spent confined at the Caldwell County Detention Center...

...Mark Waters returned to the home, he began arguing with his mother. It was during that argument, Waters climbed onto the chair his mother was sitting in and began choking her until she quit moving and died, Bellas said.

Autopsy results confirmed that Emma Jean Waters died due to manual strangulation.

Later that same November day, Bellas said both Waters and Hallyburton took the red pickup truck and checkbook that belonged to Emma Waters and went to a local convenience store to purchase a few items.

When the couple tried to pass several checks, the clerk knew the checks belonged to Emma Waters. Although he passed the first one, he denied the second and immediately called the family...

During an initial search, Emma Waters was not found. A more detailed search was conducted that same day, and reports show that Emma Waters body was found inside plastic trash bags.

Lab results from the State Bureau of Investigation revealed fingerprints from both Mark Waters and Hallyburton were on the bags.

During questioning, investigators determined that some of Emma Waters property had been taken from her home to a home on Table Rock Road in Lenoir. When they searched the home, Bellas said they found the property and learned that Mark Waters had been trading it for crack cocaine.